


Up and Running

by soulofme



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Pre-Relationship, Skipping Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofme/pseuds/soulofme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let’s go.”</p><p>“Are you asking me to cut class with you?” </p><p>On their last day of high school, Levi and Eren spend an unforgettable day together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up and Running

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [View](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF53cptEE5k) by SHINee. Give it a listen if you want!

I could feel my uncle watching me.

I paused in the middle of raising my spoonful of oatmeal to my lips, a scowl on my face.

“What?” I barked. Kenny said nothing and looked down at his newspaper, coffee cup poised at his mouth. I watched as he blew across the top gently before taking a slow sip.

The chair beside me pulled out, and I looked to see Mikasa sitting herself down. Her hair was wet from her shower, the ends dripping water droplets onto the table. I frowned at the sight and glanced over at Kenny, who had continued to look at me.

“Last day of school, huh?” he said slowly. I swallowed the oatmeal in my mouth. Mikasa’s knife scraped across her plate as she cut up her pancakes into little bite-sized pieces.

“Yeah,” I said gruffly.

“When’s graduation?”

“Saturday,” I said.

“Can you get the day off?” Mikasa asked. Kenny looked at her before shrugging a bit.

“I’m not sure.”

I scowled at him again.

“It’s graduation for fuck’s sake,” I hissed. “You can’t even make time for that?”

Kenny looked at me, his expression dark.

“Language,” he said simply. I snorted.

“Like you haven’t-”

“Stop,” Mikasa’s cold hand circled around my wrist. I looked into her eyes before I sighed, closing my own for a few seconds to calm myself down.

“Sorry,” I gritted out, and my cousin’s hand fell away. I pushed my half-empty bowl away and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Kenny asked, his eyes landing on my unfinished breakfast.

“School,” I said curtly. “Mikasa?”

She looked between Kenny and I before she shook her head. I scoffed under my breath and grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair as I left.

* * *

The air was pleasantly crisp. I drove with the windows rolled all the way down, the wind whipping my hair around. I needed to get my bangs cut. I hadn’t found the time to do so, though. Maybe I would do it before graduation.

When I arrived at school, I put the windows up and sat in the car. I had gotten here earlier than I anticipated. I would have to wait anyway, so I figured I might as well stay in the car. I watched as a black car pulled up next to mine. The driver had their head turned in the opposite direction as they rifled through their backpack. When they turned around, I felt like a stone had dropped into the pit of my stomach.

Eren Jaeger’s eyes locked with mine. His arm started to lift, like he was going to wave to me or something. As quickly as it happened, though, it fell back to his side. The corner of his lips pulled up into what I guessed what supposed to be a smile. It just looked like a grimace, though.

I swallowed harshly and got out of the car. Eren followed my example, holding his bag tightly in one hand.

“Hey,” I said lamely.

“Hi,” he said shortly. He brushed his bangs away from his eyes. I wasn’t the only one who needed a haircut.

“So...last day of high school,” I said. We both looked at each other as my words sunk in.

“Wow,” Eren breathed, running his fingers through his hair again. “Crazy, huh?”

“Yeah,” I agreed quietly. “Really crazy.”

I wanted to say something else. I wanted to ask him how he was or what his plans were for college. But I couldn’t. The words got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t dislodge them. I knew why this was awkward. We were just lab partners. Besides physics, we had nothing to talk about.

“Yeah,” Eren’s eyes crinkled at the corner as he smiled. We both knew that this conversation was dragging on longer than either of us wanted it to. “I’m gonna head in.”

“Ah, right,” I waved my hand at him. “Go ahead.”

Eren looked at me for a few seconds, his expression thoughtful. He gave me a little smile and waved over his shoulder.

“Bye, Levi,” he said.

“Bye,” I forced myself to say.

I leaned back against the side of my car, blowing out a slow breath from between my lips. I watched as Eren walked away, meeting up with a blond kid as he neared the front doors. I shook my head and closed my eyes.

I didn’t realize how long I had been standing outside until I felt someone intensely poking at my side. My eyes met Hanji’s, and she was practically vibrating in place while her eyes were bright with excitement. Beside her stood Erwin, wrinkles creasing his forehead as he frowned.

“Are you coming or what?” Hanji teased. I shook my head and eased myself off of my car.

Erwin and I made eye contact. He raised an eyebrow, but I shook my head. He backed off, his shoulders relaxing as he strode beside Hanji. We both listened as she chattered on about how excited she was for graduation. When Farlan and Isabel caught up with us, Isabel and Hanji broke off into their own little conversation. Farlan clapped my shoulder with a grin and playfully punched Erwin’s arm.

“It’s the last day of high school, boys,” he said, his eyes practically sparkling. “Are you guys excited?”

“Estatic,” I said.

“Thrilled,” Erwin added, and we exchanged a grin. That was one of the many reasons we were friends.

Farlan rolled his eyes at our unenthusiastic tone and sighed.

“Alright, alright,” he shook his head. “I can’t wait for college, man. It’s gonna be great.”

I shifted uncomfortably. Mikasa was going because she had gotten a full ride to Princeton. And me?

Ha.

Don’t make me laugh.

Erwin must have sensed my discomfort, because he suddenly began talking about the senior prank a few kids on student council had organized. Farlan took the hint, and the conversation about our future came to a sudden end. Hanji and Isabel waved to us as they walked off to class. Erwin split with a small smile, and Farlan and I headed up to English, our first class of the day.

The day went by without much of anything happening. In nearly every class, someone had ended up in tears about missing their friends or leaving home. It had begun to get on my nerves by fifth period, but I brushed it off and continued on with my day.

I was walking to my physics class when someone grabbed my arm. I turned around, expecting to see one of my friends. Instead, my eyes made contact with Eren's. He gave me a sheepish grin and released my arm.

“Uh...what’s up?” I asked awkwardly, unsure of why he had tugged me to the side. All around us, everyone was hurrying to their last class of the day. The crowd in the hallway was beginning to get smaller.

Eren took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them, he stared straight at me.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

I stared at him in surprise, trying to figure out what he was saying to me. Eren swallowed harshly, his throat bobbing as he looked at me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked carefully.

Eren fidgeted, twisting the hem of his shirt between his fingers.

“Let’s just...go.”

I blinked at him in surprise.

“Are you asking me to cut class with you?” A ghost of a smile came upon my lips. “Aren’t you one of those good boys?”

Eren glanced away from me, the tips of his ears turning red.

“I just want one day...” he began, but I couldn’t hear the rest of his sentence.

My stomach turned with excitement. I had only cut class a few times, but each time had been exhilarating. Of course, Kenny had screamed his head off when he found out the first time. But ever since then, I hadn’t been caught.

“Well,” I began, noting how Eren’s face lit up hopefully. “What did you have in mind?”

* * *

We ended up walking away from school, our hands shoved into our pockets. Eren hummed from beside me, his face turned up so the sun bathed his skin in warmth. I watched him for a few seconds before I shook my head.

“Why me?” I asked slowly. “Aren’t you friends with my cousin or something? What about that blond kid you’re always with?”

“Why not?” Eren grinned at me, looking more like a boy than anything.

A warmth settled in my cheeks. I forced a scoff out and turned to look at the traffic passing by us. Besides the cars rushing by, the only other sound was our feet against the sidewalk.

“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked.

“Anywhere,” Eren said, and I rolled my eyes.

“So,” I cleared my throat. “Honestly, I don’t know shit about you.”

Eren chuckled softly to himself.

“Of course you do,” he said. “You’re my lab partner.”

“Right,” I said. “How do I know you’re not taking me to the middle of the woods to kill me?”

“Then I’d have to dump the body,” Eren held his hands up, wiggling his fingers. “And I’m not exactly prepared for that.”

I smirked at that.

“You’re not bad, Jaeger,” I said.

Eren snickered and nudged me with his hip. We walked in silence until we reached the train station. Eren stopped, staring ahead with a strange look in his eyes. He suddenly grabbed my hand and took off running. My eyes widened in shock as I stumbled after him like a toddler just learning how to walk.

“Hey, what the fuck?” I shouted, not even caring that we were in public. “Slow down!”

“We’re gonna miss the train!” Eren called back.

We ran through the crowd of people, earning dirty looks and curses as we shoved past. Eren was laughing in front of me, his cheeks turning red. I shook my head in amazement and forced myself to move faster.

Before I knew it, we were sitting on a train. Eren grinned at me, his hair a wild mess. I looked at him, hunched over in my seat as I panted hard. Once I regained my breath, I shoved him until he jerked in his seat.

“What the hell?” I wheezed out.

“Sorry,” Eren slouched back, pressing his head against his seat.

I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. The train was fairly quiet, except for a couple talking softly to their young daughter. My eyes slipped shut and I took a deep breath, feeling my entire body relax.

* * *

I didn’t remember falling asleep.

Eren was sitting next to me, a panicked look on his face as he furiously shook me.

“Levi!” he hissed. I swatted at his hands.

“I’m awake,” I said grumpily. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know where we are,” he admitted. I sat up quickly.

“What?” I looked around us. The couple and their kid was gone. The entire train car was empty except for us, and the doors were beginning to close. “Shit!”

I grabbed Eren’s hand and tugged him out of his seat. I slid my body through the gap, wincing as I went through. Eren let out a cry of pain when we stumbled out, stepping all over each other’s shoes.

I turned around in a circle, looking around us. The train station was mostly empty, and all I could see were trees.

Well fuck. Where the hell were we?

“Oh no,” Eren sounded nervous. I looked at him, noticing how a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead. I shook our connected hands to get his attention. He let got of me with a gasp and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Relax,” I told him, straightening my back. “You said you didn’t have anywhere in mind, right? Let’s look around.”

“Are you serious?” Eren asked doubtfully. I nodded, nudging him with my shoulder.

“Yeah. This was your idea, remember?”

“Right,” Eren said slowly.

We began to walk again, making our way out of the train station. We were in some kind of rural community. The streets were lined with small businesses, the kind of places that were run by generations of family members. I dragged Eren into a convenience store.

“Get whatever you want,” I said. When he gave me a bewildered look, I blew out an irritated breath. “Aren’t you hungry?”

As if on cue, Eren’s stomach rumbled. He instantly wrapped his arms around himself as I snickered.

“Stop laughing,” he hissed before he disappeared down one of the aisles.

I went to the back of the store and grabbed a bottle of Coke and a bag of chips. I held them against my side as I browsed through the rest of the store. I grabbed a chocolate bar before setting my things down on the counter. Eren emerged from the back of the store with a water bottle and two packs of gummy worms.

The old lady behind the counter gave us a strange look as she eyed our school uniforms.

“Sina?” she asked us. I looked down at the emblem embroidered onto my blazer.

“Uh, yeah,” I didn’t know how to respond. The old woman’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Awfully far from home, aren’t you?” she asked. Beside me, Eren shifted uncomfortably. I stared at the woman for a few seconds, unsure of why she was acting so weird.

Oh, right. We were supposed to be in school.

“Guess so,” I said. I grabbed the bag from her frail hands and slid my money across the counter. “Have a nice day.”

The woman said nothing. Eren and I left the store, the bell over the door tinkling as we went on our way.

“That was weird,” Eren broke the silence between us.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered. “Did you see her face? She looked like she was constipated.”

Eren snorted and plopped down onto the curb, “She probably thought we were going to cause trouble or something.”

“Oh please,” I sat down heavily. “That sterotype pisses me off. Be honest with me. How many kids our age do you think are _really_ capable of doing something bad?”

Eren hummed as he thought before he shrugged.

“None, I guess,” he said.

“There you go,” I said, clicking my tongue. “It’s bullshit, you know.”

“You’re pretty passionate about this,” he remarked, biting into one of his gummy worms.

“Yeah, well,” I shook my head and took a bite of my candy bar. “It’s…”

“Bullshit?” Eren offered. I nodded.

“Bullshit,” I agreed.

We ate in silence, the wind ruffling our hair. A few young kids rode past us on a bike, laughing all the while. Eren watched them thoughtfully.

“You know,” he began. “I never rode a bike before.”

I looked over at him, my jaw almost dropping open.

“Are you serious?” I asked in shock. He nodded.

“I’m serious,” he said. “I never learned. My dad was never an outdoorsy guy, you know?”

“Huh.”

Eren looked at me.

“What about your dad?” he asked.

A tight feeling formed in my chest.

“Dunno,” I said. “He split when he found out my mom was pregnant. I never met him.”

“Oh,” Eren said, his face falling. He took a sip from his water bottle. “Whatever. Dads suck anyway. Who needs ‘em?”

“Right,” I said softly.

We finished eating and started throwing away our trash. We began walking again, not saying much. Eren nudged my arm when we reached the top of the street. I looked over at the sign he was pointing at.

“Shiganshina?” I said. Eren’s eyes grew bright.

“I was born here,” he said, almost sounding proud.

“You were born here?” I asked. “That’s...uh, wow.”

“I know,” Eren chuckled. “It’s way different from Sina, you know? I only lived here until I was five, so I don’t remember much. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize it.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said. “You seem so comfortable in Sina. Kinda like you were always there, if that makes sense.”

Eren shrugged.

“I never really had the true Shiganshina experience, I guess,” he said. “My dad got a job in Sina and that’s why we moved. If I had lived here longer, maybe things would have been different.”

There was a sudden sadness in Eren’s voice. I looked over at Eren, noting how he stared at his feet as he walked. I didn’t know why, but suddenly I felt sad too.

“Maybe,” I said. I cleared my throat. “I wasn’t born in Sina either.”

“I could tell,” Eren teased.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Eren shugged.

“Sina’s like...I dunno, _uptight_. And you always seemed kinda wild,” he said.

“How could you possibly know that?” I snorted. “I barely talk.”

“Yeah, but your demeanor is different than everyone else,” Eren said. “Take Erwin for example.”

I looked at Eren in shock.

“You know Erwin?” I asked.

“Not really,” Eren admitted. “But he was born in Sina, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” I said. “What’s your point?”

“He’s got that whole uptight thing about him,” Eren said. “A lot of kids that go to our school are filthy rich, so of course they’re gonna act like it. A little stuck up, a stickler for the rules, all that stuff. Erwin’s just like that.”

I thought about it for a few seconds. That was true. Eren did have a point.

“I guess so,” I said.

“And then there’s you,” Eren gestured to me. “You’re nothing like that. You act like you don’t really give a shit about anything. You don’t seem stuck up and I’m pretty sure rules have no effect on you.”

“Nice observation,” I praised him, causing Eren to beam.

“Thank you,” he said, taking an over exaggerated bow.

“So how’d you meet Mikasa?” I asked.

“We had English together,” he said. “She introduced me to Armin and that’s how we became friends.”

“I never knew about you until we were lab partners,” I said. “Mikasa never really talks about her friends.”

Eren shrugged.

“I kinda like it that way,” he said. I raised my eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“It feels special,” he said. “Like you’re meeting me without hearing what anyone else said about me first.”

“Huh,” I hummed thoughtfully. “When you put it like that, I guess it is kinda nice.”

Eren smiled happily and walked a little faster. I laughed at his enthusiasm and quickened my pace as well. It felt weird to be smiling this much. I wasn’t even like this around my friends. And yet here I was, my cheeks hurting from laughing so much.

Eren and I ended up at a little park. The only people there were a father and his son. I watched them for a few minutes. The son ran around until he fell on his knees. Before he could even cry, his father grabbed him and began peppering kisses all over his face. The son began to laugh happily, and when the father turned around I saw that a wide smile was on his face.

“C’mon,” Eren said softly, leading me to the swings. We sat down and lightly rocked ourselves forward.

The wind blew through our hair, and I watched as Eren let his head fall back as he began to swing a little faster. My eyes landed on the column of his throat. I followed his neck with my eyes until I reached his face. His cheeks were still rounded with baby fat, giving him a more boyish look. My own face had started getting sharper, the line of my jaw more pronounced than it had once been.

I was shocked when I found a spark of jealousy fill me. Eren looked so innocent as he swung back and forth, like a little boy exploring the world for the first time. When he opened his eyes to look at me, I nearly lost my breath when I saw how clear they were. It was like he was pure, untouched by the harshness of the world.

“What are you looking at?” Eren asked, slowing his swinging to a stop. I hadn’t even realized I stopped moving.

“Nothing,” I said, and pretended that I didn’t see Eren’s smile from the corner of my eyes.

* * *

We walked around Shiganshina a little bit more. I had no idea what time it was, and I was shocked when I saw it was nearly six o’clock. Eren dragged me into a coffee shop, where we both got a cup of hot chocolate and rested our legs, tired from all of our walking.

“I left my car at school,” I suddenly remembered, pulling my car keys out from my pocket. Eren laughed loudly, ignoring the annoyed look the owner of the shop gave him.

“So did I,” he wiped a stray tear away from his eye. “We’ll get them when we go back, then.”

“Yeah,” I said. I looked outside. “We should leave soon anyway.”

“Yeah,” Eren said, his voice subdued. “Later.”

“Later,” I agreed.

We finished off our drinks and left the coffee shop. Suddenly, Eren stood up straight.

“Levi, look!”

He grabbed my arm to get my attention. I looked ahead, my eyes widening.

The ocean stretched out before of us, reflecting the last rays of the sun. The sky was a mixture of pale pink and orange. Before I knew it, Eren was running again. I cursed his long longs and ran after him. Eren pressed himself to the railing of the staircase, his eyes wide. I looked at him, the sunset reflected in his eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” he said softly.

“Yeah,” I agreed, and it took me a few moments to realize that I wasn’t even looking at the sunset. The realization was startling, and I gripped tighter on the railing to keep myself upright.

We left once the sky was dark. We walked back to the train station in silence, nothing but the sound of our footsteps between us.

“Do you think anyone noticed we were gone?” Eren asked.

“Maybe,” I said. I knew my friends probably did, and Mikasa had to have as well. “It’s fine.”

“What will we tell them? If they ask us, I mean,” Eren said. I shrugged.

“We’ll just say that we needed a day,” I said. As the words left my lips, I was reminded of when Eren had first asked me to leave with him. “Why’d you ask me?”

“I told you already,” Eren huffed out a laugh. “I just-”

“You had a reason,” I cut him off.

Eren’s expression grew soft.

“I…” he trailed off. “It’s gonna make things weird.”

“We skipped school without really knowing each other. I don’t think this can get any worse.”

Eren cracked a small smile at that.

“I like you,” he said softly.

My eyes widened.

“O-Oh,” I stammered out intelligently. “Are...are you serious?”

Eren nodded, pressing his lips together tightly.

“I never had the guts to say anything,” he said. “After graduation, I don’t think we’ll ever see each other. I just wanted to have one day with you.”

“That’s…” I trailed off, unsure of what to say. My head felt like a jumbled mess. “Thank you.”

Eren stopped walking, staring at me with wide eyes.

“Levi…” he whispered.

I shook my head and grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together.

“C’mon,” I said. “We’re gonna miss our train.”

* * *

I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want our day to end. Eren fell asleep on the train, his body resting against me unintentionally. I didn’t have the heart to wake him, so I let him sleep against me. His nose was pressed up against my throat, and he was close enough that I could smell the traces of his cologne. He smelled like the summer air and freedom.

Before I could think about it, I pressed a kiss against his head. The stiffening of his body alerted me that he was awake, but we both didn’t move. I looked down at his eyes, and he glanced up at me sleepily.

When the train arrived back at the Sina station, we stood up slowly. Our bodies were sore from all the running we had done. We stumbled out of the train, nearly huddled together as we walked back to the school. As I expected, my car was pretty much the only one left in the lot. I walked towards it with renewed vigor before I remembered Eren was still lagging behind me.

“Hey,” I called quietly, not wanting to shatter the silence between us. “I can give you a ride back home if you want.”

Eren shook his head, pointing to his own car. My face turned red. I forgot that he had driven to school as well. 

“It’s okay,” he said. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“Yeah,” I said. For some reason, a lump was forming in my throat. “I...I had fun.”

The last thing I saw of Eren before he turned away was his blindingly bright smile.

* * *

Before I knew it, graduation was before me. The days had passed in a blink of an eye, and now I was clutching onto my diploma for dear life. My friends had all questioned me on where I had been, and when I told them I just needed a day they backed off.

Kenny had ended up making graduation after all. I had almost stopped in the middle of walking to the stage when I saw him among all the other family members, but I ignored the tight feeling in my chest and walked on.

After I had taken one last picture with my friends and parted with them, Mikasa and I met up. She had Armin and Eren behind her. Eren flushed when our eyes met, and my lips curled up into a smirk.

“Congrats,” I said to him. He nodded.

“Yeah, you too,” he said.

Mikasa said something to them and they all embraced each other. And just like that, Eren was gone. I watched him disappear into the crowd before Mikasa tapped my shoulder.

“What?” I asked. She raised an eyebrow.

“You have a mopey look on your face,” she said. I instantly schooled my expression into something uninterested and shoved her with my shoulder.

“Shut up,” I said.

At that moment, Kenny walked up to us.

“Good job,” he said, nodding shortly. I swallowed harshly.

“Thanks,” Mikasa said. I stayed silent.

“Levi,” his sharp gaze was suddenly on me.

“Yeah?”

“Your mother would be proud,” he said.

I felt like I had gotten punched in the gut. I had asked myself if my mother would be happy with my choices more than I liked to admit. The last time I had seen her, I was nine years old and clutching onto her cold hand.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, not wanting to show how emotional his few words had gotten me. “I hope she is.”

“She is,” Mikasa assured me. “And I bet your dad is too.”

_“Whatever. Dads suck anyway. Who needs ‘em?”_

“Maybe,” I said softly.

“Let’s go,” Kenny said. “I’ll treat you guys to dinner.”

I nodded, following after them. As we left, my eyes searched the crowd for Eren. I found him between a man a woman, both of which bore a striking resemblance to him. His parents, I bet. He looked at me, a slow smile spreading across his face. I waved back, but stopped when his mother started to turn around.

When I got into the car, a strangely satisfied feeling filled me.

* * *

I never saw Eren again after graduation. Even Mikasa had lost touch with him, but that hadn’t surprised me. I was slowly beginning to lose touch with my own friends. They were all busy with school. Hell, even I had gotten busy.

I had moved out of Kenny’s place and a little less than a month after graduation. At first, I planned to move into one of the apartment buildings not too far from where I used to live. But at the last second, I found myself changing my mind. I ended up buying a little house in Shiganshina with the money that was supposed to be for college. The house was so old that it looked like it was going to fall apart any second. After I got a job working at one of the little shops, I began setting money aside so that I could fix things little by little.

Every day seemed like an endless battle. I dealt with rude customers every day only to come home to a house that never wanted to cooperate with me. But despite everything, I was honestly happy.

One day, the door of the shop jingled open. It was a few minutes until closing time, and I was tempted to yell that the store was closed. I stopped myself just before I could, though. Maybe the person really needed something. Besides, a few minutes wouldn’t kill me. It wasn’t like I had someone waiting at home for me.

“Sorry,” the customer said, laying a bottle of water and two packs of gummy worms down.

I looked up, my eyes meeting clear, bright green ones. Almost instantly, my lips curled into the widest smile I ever had.

“It’s okay,” I said, and I was delighted when I received a smile that was enthusiastic as mine.


End file.
